Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts
Sebring International Raceway
10:30 a.m. EDT March 16, 2019
CNBC, NBC Sports Gold & NBC Sports Network
Radio Le Mans and IMSA.com
ACURA, HPD AT SEBRING
• Acura Motorsports and its performance arm, Honda Performance Development, have recorded a total of eight victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring, including three class wins for Acura, four LMP2 class wins under the HPD umbrella, and an overall win in 2016.
• Acura’s initial victory at the rugged endurance contest came in 1993, when Comptech Racing brought its Acura Spice prototype home first in the Camel Lights division, and fifth overall in the 47-car field. Three-time Camel Lights champion Parker Johnstone anchored the driver lineup, with co-drivers Dan Marvin and Ruggero Melgrati.
• In 2007, Acura returned to endurance sports car racing for the first time since ’93, and promptly won the LMP2 class – finishing second overall – in the debut of the Acura ARX-01a prototype in the hands of Andretti Autosports drivers Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta and Tony Kanaan.
• Acura won the LMP2 category again in 2009, with Lowe’s Fernandez Racing finishing third overall in its Acura ARX-01b co-driven by Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz.
• With HPD supplying customer teams in the LMP2 category from 2010-2016, the company scored additional class wins at Sebring in 2011, 2012 (in both the American Le Mans Series and World Endurance Championship races) and 2013.
• In 2016, HPD and partner team Tequila Patron ESM scored an overall victory at Sebring in a Honda-powered Ligier JSP2 co-driven by Pipo Derani, Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown.
ACURA TEAM PENSKE
• The combination of Acura Motorsports, Team Penske and the Acura ARX-05 DPi resulted in an encouraging first year of IMSA competition, including a 1-2 finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, two poles and five podium finishes in 2018. For 2019, all involved are looking to build on that foundation and contend for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
• The Acura ARX-05 is the latest in a line of endurance prototypes to be fielded by the company, dating to 1991, just five years after the launch of the Acura brand. Based on the successful ORECA 07 chassis, the ARX-05 DPi features Acura-specific bodywork and utilizes the race-proven, production-based Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine.
• Acura Team Penske demonstrated the performance potential of the ARX-05 right from the start, with Helio Castroneves qualifying on the front row for the Rolex 24 and Juan Pablo Montoya claiming the first pole at Long Beach. A dominating performance saw Castroneves and Ricky Taylor win from the pole at Mid-Ohio, with Montoya and Dane Cameron finishing second. A double-podium result in Detroit and podium finishes at Watkins Glen and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca were additional highlights to the 2018 season.
• To celebrate IMSA’s 50th year of endurance sports car racing, both Acura Team Penske entries this year feature “throwback” orange and white liveries commemorating the consecutive IMSA Camel GT Comptech Acura Camel Lights champions of 1991-93.
• The six drivers sharing Penske’s two Acura ARX-05 prototypes at Sebring – Montoya, Cameron and Simon Pagneaud in the #6 Acura; and Castroneves, Taylor and Alexander Rossi in the #7 entry – account for five Rolex 24 overall victories, three IMSA titles, six Indianapolis 500 wins, two IndyCar Series championships, and seven Formula One trophies.
MEYER SHANK RACING
• After scoring two class wins and seven podium finishes to contend for the GTD title last season, Meyer Shank Racing returns with the new “Evo” edition of the successful Acura NSX GT3 and a two-car effort for 2019.
• Based on information generated throughout the global NSX GT3 Customer Racing Program, the Acura NSX GT3 Evo features performance gains, improved drivability, a 25 percent increase in engine life and greater component durability. The result is a racing platform designed to appeal to a wide range of professional and amateur drivers.
• For 2019, MSR has entered into a partnership with businesswoman/racer Jackie Heinricher and sponsor Caterpillar to field the #57 Acura NSX GT3 Evo for an all-female driver lineup anchored by the four-time race winner Katherine Legge, fellow Indianapolis 500 veteran Bia Figueiredo and two-time IMSA GTD champion Christina Nielsen.
• Rising stars Mario Farnbacher and Trent Hindman return to drive the #93 MSR Acura, with NASCAR race winner Justin Marks completing the driver lineup for Sebring.
• In 2018, MSR began the season with one full-time #93 NSX GT3 entry, and a second car intended to contest the four endurance rounds of the GTD championship. However, a strong start for the #86 Acura saw the effort develop into a full-season campaign. Legge drove for the full year with Alvaro Parente and Mario Farnbacher rotating as co-drivers. Legge won with Farnbacher in Detroit, and with Parente at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The trio also combined to complete every lap of the season – 2,374 in all – and lead 202 of them.
WHERE TO WATCH
• Television coverage from Sebring begins at 10:30 a.m. EDT Saturday on CNBC, shifting to the online NBC Gold App from 1-3 p.m. Live television coverage for the remainder or the race can be found on the NBC Sports Network from 3-11 p.m.
• Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.
• Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.
• Video recaps from this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will be available on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel. Provided by the Carolinas Production Group, the video packages can be found at https://wwwyoutube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.